Nintendo is Making a Real-Life Pokédex

Remember when you were a little kid playing Pokémon for the first time and just wishing your little heart out that you could have a real Pokédex? Let’s not lie, you probably still wish that! Well, we’ve got some good news, as it appears your wish will soon be granted. Patents have been filed by Nintendo, The Pokémon Company, and Ambrella (a Nintendo-published company that mostly works on Pokémon spin-offs) for a handheld device that scans NFC devices (like Amiibo) and stores and categorizes information. In other words: they’re making a Pokédex!

The patent, initially filed back in March but just recently made public, is for an “Information Processing Apparatus, Information Processing System, Information Processing Method and Recording Medium.” The handheld device is designed to work in tandem with NFC figures and smart cards, and as you can tell from the images in the gallery below, it’s pretty clear this is going to be used for Pokémon. The patent images show various animals being categorized with listed stats, and the explanation of the patent talks about hypothetical game scenarios on the device in which animals would battle, so it looks like you’ll be able to use any Pokémon you’ve added to the Pokédex to battle with your friends too! With the recent introduction of Amiibo characters, it looks like this could be Nintendo’s next big step in appealing to the Skylanders-esque market that combines video games and toys.